Summer Nights
by The Turk
Summary: The times before Sion was a bouncer. His first encounters with FATE bar and the characters in the game occur during a stifling summer night. Note: Contains discrepancies when compared to the official 'The Bouncer' background information.


            [Summer Night] – by The Turk

His chest hurt, his muscles ached and he could taste the blood in his mouth.  His wits, however, were as sharp as they could be.  Sharper.  This was his life.  This was what he did.  A punch hit him square on the abdomen, but it was far from enough to stop him.  His fist soon connected with the assailant's face, a few seconds before his legs sweeped another off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground.  Two still standing.  Does it get any easier than this?  Crunch – with one swift step back his elbow slammed into the man behind him as the last one lunged forwards.  Slightly unbalanced by his previous manouver, he was allowed no time to evade as a booted foot delivered the dull thud of a kick to his stomach, breaking his concentration for a milisecond, thus allowing another to connect, and another until he found himself dazed in a barrage of kicks from all sides.  Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, splattering against his torso covered in black and purple.  His vision unfocused.  Thud.  Thud.  Thud.  It took him a good 30 seconds until he managed to clear his head, but when he did, it was over.  He grabbed his assailant's leg in mid-kick, and, twisting it, leapt into the air administering a final sonorous kick which sent the man crashing into the alley wall.  There was a silence punctuated by pronounced heaves and gasps.  Blood and sweat dripped onto the floor.  He spat, his spit thick and crimson.  Adrenaline still coursed in his veins, numbing the pain in his body as he ran a hand through his sweat-soked hair and steadied himelf against a wall with the other.  Finally, he looked around.  No sign of the girl.  Probably ran away as soon as the first punch fell.  He shrugged.  Whatever.  She was safe for the time being – "at least from these guys", he thought to himself.  And not a word of thanks.

            "Ah well, that's life.  You did your good deed of the day." 

            Wincing at a sharp pang in his side, Sion Barzahd began to trudgingly make his way home.  

*          *          *

            He woke up with a start, then groaned in pain as his injuries reminded him of the fight earlier on.  His head turned to look at the alarm-clock on the bedside table,  blinking 4.30am.  The night was absolute stillness.  Drowsily getting out of bed, he opened the sliding door which led out onto the tiny balcony and stepped out into the cool pre-morning air.  Though he was all aches and sores, his true concern was not physical.  He had not seen her get away.  Sure, he had been fighting them at the time, but Sion couldn't help but feel somehow responsible for her now.  What if there was another one which he had not seen?  He could very well have taken her away during the skirmish.  He frowned, then after a few seconds shook the frown away.  No, he had done more than enough.  More than anyone else would our could have done – he beat up four men single-handedly.  If anything, he should feel proud, and his conscience at ease.

            He looked down at the suburb streets below him.  All darkness and perfect quiet.  A slight breeze was blowing, more than welcome in these summer days and together with the stillness, it gave this violent neighborhood quite a different feel.  His eyes travelled back to the corner near the tailor's where he had fought a few hours ago.  No-one would have guessed there was blood on that cobbled road.  He closed his eyes.  This wasn't the first street-fight he'd been in.  Nor would it be the last.  Yet somehow it was... different.  This wasn't the self-assuring brawling he'd done thousands of times before.  There had been a purpose to it.  A split-second reaction, almost a reflex which fuelled him into it.  He wasn't used to fighting _for_ something.  Winning or losing had attained new meanings during those brief minutes, wider and deeper than he had ever felt them.  Was that the reason he was still standing here?  No.  He would've won anyway.  It simply felt different.  Noble, in a way.  He couldn't supress a quasi-smile here.  He was as far from 'noble' as one could possibly get, and yet there he had been, playing the shining knight, rescuing a 'damsel in distress'.  Sure, it hadn't been pretty.  But then again, he never believed in fairy-tales anyway.  Probably because when he finally had a chance to read them he was past the age of believing in them.  Still, it lightened his spirits to look at things this way.  He mused the idea over and approached it from several different angles but in the end he gave up.  He was no hero.  He did not believe in fairy-tales.  The only real fact here was that he had work tomorrow morning and couldn't afford to stay up all night engaged in senseless meditation.  Leaving the sliding door open for the breeze, he made his way back to the bed and plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.

            The next day arose warm and slightly stifling.  By nine Sion was already dressed in loose-fitting shorts and a sleeveless sports shirt and was absent-mindedly giving instructions to an overweight boy who tried vigorously to exercise himself on one of the gym's  few machines.  It was a rather cramped place, which did little to help diminish the heat, and somewhat low on funds, too.  On a normal day Sion's thoughts wouldn't be completely focused on being a gym instructor, but today things were especially bad.  He wondered if she had really escaped,  if she hadn't run into anything else – and even... her name.  He wanted at least to know who it was he had saved.  If it was Anna or Lyselle or Elodie or, well, anything.  Now and again he reminded himself that chances were he would never see her again.  Such was the way of things.  

            "Two more series of eight now."  he muttered to puffing boy.

            Yes, Fate would have him be the unkown rescuer to an unkown victim.  He glanced out the window.  The ornate street-lights were all off and despite the heat, the sky was still clouded over, as it always was in these parts.  A woman on the street was arguing with a newspaper vender.  Across the road the waiters in a restaurant were getting the tables ready for lunchtime.  He glanced at the clock.  Only a couple of minutes before the boy was gone.

Just like everything today, these took longer than the minutes pertaining to any other day which had come before it, but eventually ten o clock arrived.  He dismissed the lad and had barely begun a few exercises of his own when through the door entered a man of about twenty, his straight brown hair reaching just above his shoulders, clad in khaki army pants and a simple white t-shirt.  The man had a somewhat rebellious gait to him and a look of amused superiority, an arrogance which belonged not to the disdaining noble, but to the haughty rogue.  

            "I'm looking for a Sion Barzahd.  Young fellow.  Auburn hair,  blue eyes.  About your height, your weight... You wouldn't happen to know anyone of that description, would you?"  he addedd a playful smile when he finished.

            Sion stopped and approached him, slightly suspicious and defiant of the intruder.  The fan attached to the ceiling spun around lazily.

            "I'm Sion."

            "Oh, I would never have guessed," muttered the man "You look like you've had a rough night, Mr. Barzahd.  Partied too much?"

            Sion smirked.

            "Is there a point to this?  If you need a personal trainer or something, sure, that can be arranged, but I don't see how-- "

            Sion stepped back in the nick of time as the stranger's foot sweeped the air where he had been standing.  

            "What the--?  Don't tell me you came here just so you could pick a fight with me." 

            The foot which had just attempted to kick him retreated, but did not touch the ground.  Instead, the stranger now steadied himself on one leg only, allowing the other to be slightly bent, a few inches from the floor.  He smiled.

            What followed was an avalanche of kicks, all from that same suspended leg.  High kicks, low kicks, left right, vertical, horizontal.  Some Sion blocked, others hit him unawares.  Finally, he conceded to joining in the fight, and during his next block, lunged forwards with a forceful punch to the intruder's chest.

            The man grunted and put down his leg.  A few seconds of understanding passed between the two fighters as they allowed the adrenaline to course through them.  Then they were at it like bolts of lightning intersecting in the night sky.  Sion's fists and feet flew towards the stranger in fury as he wondered at how well this man was keeping up with him.  His opponent restricted himself to attacking with his legs, in all variations of kicks imaginable, only using his arms for the occasional block.  Taekwondo, noted Sion instantly.  He was fast, too.  The faster of the two fighters.  Most of Sion's blows he evaded, and in doing so gained many opportune attacks at the gym instructor.  He also had advantage in that he was not wounded as Sion was, his movements unimpaired by anything.  Nevertheless, this was not to be a sure win.  Several of Sion's advances were successful, a punch slamming against his abdomen, connecting with another to his chest, and the final to the head sent him reeling across the room and into the wall.  Sion darted forwards to carry on the squence, but his eyes wideneed in surprise as the stranger took a few steps in his direction and then jumped off the ground in a vigorous impulsion towards him, his legs drawing in briefly before one of them shot out against Sion's chest in a fierce flying kick, sending the boy's body crashing to the ground.

            The man stood over him, one leg partially retracted, ready to stamp on him should he try anything.  

            Sion was panting heavily, his chest rising and falling covered by a sheen of sweat.  His entire torso was still feeling the kick as his blue eyes were fixed on the man before him.

            "The name's Kou.  Kou Leifou, if you wanna know more – although before you ask, I must apologise.  I only give my number to girls."  He winked tauntingly at Sion, just before getting hit head-on by both of Sion's feet, which the youth had flung upwards, using his hands against the ground for extra impulsion.  Kou did not fall, but it gave Sion the few seconds he needed to get up and resume the fight.  Now they were both burning with enthusiasm, tearing at each other uniterrupted for several minutes as they danced in between the exercise machines until both were covered in hits and bruises and stood gazing heatedly at each other, heaving.  Drops of sweat fell rythmically onto the ground from their hair, faces and the tips of their fingers.  Kou moved in slow sidesteps towards one of the machines.  Sion felt his fist clench and narrowed his eyes.  His opponent, however, merely straightened up and nonchalantly picked up one of the towels which hung over it.  

            Sion raised an puzzled eyebrow.  In response, Kou picked up another one and threw it at him, smirking.  

            "We're over." he said, finally.  "I've seen enough."

            The auburn-haired youth seemed to relax as well, though still unsure of Kou's intentions.

            "I don't understand.  What was this about?  You were so keen on fighting me as soon as you came through that door and now suddenly you just—give up."

            Kou smiled.

            "I was curious.  Allow me to explain:  We received an eyewitness report that last night a boy just like yourself had beaten up four large men in an alley close to the Ecstasy Nightclub.  I took the description around and eventually some guy in the bakery nearby gave me your name and the place where I could find you, so I came.  Of course, when I got here I couldn't believe that a kid like you had done all that damage, so I decided to 'verify' the whole thing.  That, and the fact that I was dying to fight the guy who'd just beaten up four guys single-handedly."

            Sion nodded, then asked

            "You said 'we received'.  Who's 'we'?"

            "Oh, right.  I forgot to mention," Kou smiled. "I'm with the PD.  You're under arrest."

            "What?!"  Sion looked flabberghasted.  "Listen, this is ridiculous..!  I only did that to save a girl who was about to be raped!"

            "Don't tell that to me, kid.  I'm just here to bring you in.  Oh, and no hard feelings – it was a pretty good fight."  he smiled and took out a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket. 

            "No, you've got to be kidding.  This isn't possible.  I saved her—!"

            Kou grabbed his wrist and was about to snap the handcuffs on him when, fuelled by a new rage, Sion kneed him in the stomach, added an elbow hit to his chest and gained himself the necessary breach to lunge out the window,  crashing into a roll on the sidewalk below it and breaking out into a run down the street, despair numbing the pain.  

            His heart was racing as he moved through the passerbys, glancing over his shoulder every second.  This was impossible.  The one time when he had actually stood out – done something really worthwile, and _this_ was the result.  It didn't make any sense.  Last night he had saved someone.  Didn't they get that?  It was all upside down.  He wasn't a criminal, he didn't want to be running from the police like that.  Egads.  It was all that Kou's fault.  He was the only who could really bring him in.  No doubt he was the one who started this whole thing, just as a game of sorts.  Well, he would have to prove him wrong.  Win at this game.  Somehow.  There had to be a way.  He ran until his legs ached from the strain and he could no longer recognise the buildings around him.  He was lost.  It didn't matter, though.  At least he couldn't see Kou anywhere.  

He was in a narrow street, the buildings around him old and picturesque, the street-signs weathered.  A green grocer's, a shoe-store and a stand selling fried noodles were the only commercial establishments in that street.  At the shoe-shop window a couple glanced over a few models of shoes then moved on.  After regaining his breath, Sion wiped the sweat from his brow and slowly moved towards the noodles stand.  Chase or no chase, he was hungry.  Glancing around him, he bought some noodles and made down the street, only to discover that he had reached the waterfront.  This was the port area, although no ships docked here anymore.  Only a few unused piers and abandoned warehouses.  Seeking solitude, Sion made his way down one of the old piers and sat on a rusted bench for his lunch, gazing out to sea.  The water rose and fell endlessly beneath him, and as the sun began to set,  he couldn't help but feel the anxiousness and the despair ebbing from him.  He began to think clearly, more rationally.  He had to find the girl.  Then he'd have a witness on his side to support that he was telling the truth.  The question was... where?  He spent the afternoon walking along the docks area, trying to remember something about her that might give him a clue as to where he could find her.  It wasn't easy.  He had only seen her briefly and she had ran away before he was done.  As night fell, he felt more comfortable moving inwards to the streets, though he avoided looking anyone in the eyes.  He was part hoping he'd bump into her somewhere, and part just trying to see if anything useful came up.  That's when a shop-window caught his eye.

It was a yellow overcoat.  Exactly the same kind that she had been wearing that night.  He surveyed the store.  "Dog Street", it was called.  Clinging on to his only lead, he went in.  As the name indicated, they sold mainly streetwear.  Everything looked very urban and rough.  Not bad, but he hadn't come here to shop.  Approaching a young man behind the counter, he began talking to him.

"Great stuff you have here."

The man nodded.

"I was..  I was wondering if you knew a girl who shops here quite often.  Or at least I think she shops here often.  Slightly younger than myself.  Blond hair, white skin."

The man's face broke into a broad smile.

"Dominique... yeah.  I know her, if that's who you're referring to.  Oh, the whole store just gets brighter when she walks in."

Sion's heart almost leapt to his throat.  

"Right, right.  Do you know where I can find her?  It's urgent."

"Dominique is like a ray of sunshine, wherever she goes.  What time is it?  She'll probably be at FATE now.  It's a bar, just around the corner.  She helps out there."

The possibility that this Dominique might not be the girl he was looking for barely crossed his mind as heard all this.  It was the only chance he had.

"You're sure?  I mean.. you go there often?"

"I used to.  Now she thinks I'm getting too friendly though, and that big bouncer frind of hers won't let me in."  sulked the man.

Sion shook it off.

"Nevermind, I'll go there myself.  Hey, listen.  I'll have one of those jackets.  The one with the hood."  He bought it and dressed, figuring that it might help if he at least lookeded different from how he had looked that morning.

Soon he found himself standing outside an establishment with a large neon sign naming it as FATE bar.  A giant of a man guarded it, dressed in a heavy leather jacket and jeans, his blond hair cropped short.  He sported more than a fair deal of piercings, although the most impressive addition to his face had to be the two small sharp horns which portruded from his forehead, which, coupled with his steely cold eyes, made him the epitome of the modern-day demon.

Sion shrugged and went for the entrance.  He half expected to be stoppeed, but he wasn't.  Instead, the blond demon merely looked at him and muttered

"I'll be watching you."

The bar was a bustle of activity as Sion entered.  Neon signs and lamps were everywhere, waiters scuttled back and forth as a group of musicians played on a dimly-lit stage.  There was a second level, too, but it was out of view from the first, only the stairway leading up to it in sight.  Sion's eyes surveyed the area, searching desperately for Dominique.  After a while, it became obvious that there was only so much space and so many people in the bar – she couldn't be hiding here.  She was elsewhere.  Either that, or he really had eluded himself in thinking that the girl the shopkeeper was talking about was the same one he was looking for.  Hell, there could be dozens of girls who fitted her description and who shopped there.  Morose, he resigned himself over to the counter, sitting on a stool and ordering some drink he had never heard of.  The hood was pulled over his eyes as he sipped the drink in silence, not wishing to make matters worse by getting recognised by someone.  

Thunder sounded over head, followed by the splatter of raindrops outside.  Summer shower.  Sion was trying to consider where he'd go to for the night, when a voice beside him caught his attention.

"I'll have a Blue Dive, please."  

The answer, however, was what really did it for him.

"Sure thing, Dominique.  Heavy rain outside?"

"You have no idea..!  I'm soaked through!"

Slowly... tentatively, Sion turned to the girl sitting at the stool beside him, covered in a light blue plastic raincoat.  It was her, no doubt about it.  He wanted to be as objective as possible, clear things up and end all this chaos with the police, but instead he said nothing.  He merely looked at her.  Stared, even.  Eventually, she noticed and upon looking at him, realisation dawned onto her immediately.  Embarassed, Sion tried to explain himself, but she quickly gathered up her things, payed her drink and made for the door.

"Dominique, wait..!  Pease, I have to talk to you...!"

Why?  Why was she running away?  He hadn't done anything to her – besides saving her.  Could no-one understand that?

He soon found himself running after her, out of the bar and into the rain.  No matter how much he called out, she wouldn't stop.  Through one street, through another, under countless streetlamps.  The rain beat heavily upon him in the warm summer night.  Finally, he caught up to her.  She was sitting on a bench under the rain, in the middle of a square, looking incredibly nervous.

Sion had barely given a step towards her, when a whistle called out to him.  He turned.  Under one of the streetlamps, leaning casually against it, was Kou Leifoh, as soaked as Sion, but completely oblivious to the fact.  

"'Evening, kid.  I was sure you'd go back to your girl."

"How did you...?  How did you know it was Dominique?"

Kou shrugged.

"Remember that eyewitness I mentioned?  Well..."

Sion shook his head.  He couldn't believe it.  All of this was wrong – why would she want to have him arrested?  She of all people...!

"And if you recall, Sion, we still had some unfinished business to take care of."  He cut in, flashing another of his dazzling smiles.  Sion needed no more coaxing.   He flung himself at Kou in a blind rage, taking out all his frustration on him as they clashed for the second time.  The rain splattered and flew as they fought, the exchange of blows unrelenting.  A punch to Kou's side, a kick to Sion's chest.  Sion couldn't take much more, his body was spent from all the activity it had been forced into since last night.  Kou, however, wasn't doing too well, either.  He was faltering.  Twice he had almost tripped and thrice he had spat out blood already.    

            Both were now taking more measured chances, exploring each other's weaknesses.  They stood gazing fixedly at one another, almost tempting the other to attack, defying him to do so.  Their tension was broken, at last, by a large car pulling over by the square beside Dominique.  Both men turned to look in time to see five black-clothed figures emerging just as the car drove off, and lunging towards the girl.

            Their faces were covered, but the build was the same, thought Sion.  At least some of these were the ones from last night.  That's when he understood.  They weren't trying to rape her back there.  They were trying to kidnap her.  He glanced at Kou, who immediately understood.  They rushed forwards and soon engaged with the assailants.  It wasn't a real fight.  Kou and Sion would be more than able to take them on alone on a good day.  This, however, was far from a good day.  Sion's bruises were starting to cry out to him now and the weariness in his muscles was starting to jeopardize both speed and potency.  Over and over he fell, yet he forced himself to get up and confront them again.  By the time the last one dropped unconscious to the ground, he could barely keep himelf up on his feet as he spat out a wad of blood onto the street.  Dominique was hiding behind the bench, cowered.

            Shooting a final glance at Kou, he went towards her.

            "Why...?  What's going on...?"  he asked, between ragged gasps.

            "I... I'm sorry."  was all she said, her voice shrill and filled with anxiety.

            "Tell me.  What's going on?"  

            "I was the one who asked Kou to go after you." she added simply.  "Yesterday, when I saw you fighting those men... I was scared.  I mean, I was thankful that you stopped them.  But your eyes... They scared me.  They were like the eyes of an animal.  I was afraid you might come after me too, so I ran."

            Sion panted as he listened, Kou standing over him, also eager to fully understand what had happened.

            "I ended up running right into a man.  A large man, with long blond hair.  He asked me what I was running from.  I told him what had happened.  Then..." 

            Dominique paused.  Kou motioned for them to get out of the rain, taking the duo under the shelter of a nearby bus-stop by the square.

            "There, much better.  Now, if you'd like to continue,"

            She nodded.

            "Yes, well..  he told me that I should be careful.  That although that man had beaten up the others who were after me, he was also known to be a dangerous thug, and that I should report him to the police.  Kou was the only policeman I really knew – he works as a bouncer over at FATE, see – and.... and I told him."

            Sion was staring intently at the ground.

            "That doesn't explain that second appearance of the 'men in black'." he muttered.

            Dominique shook her head slowly, looking miserable.

            "No... I guess it doesn't."

            Silence fell between them.  Finally, she resumed,

            "I do want to say one more thing though.  Last night, when you were fighting, I was terrified, and I'm sorry.  But tonight... tonight was different.  Your eyes were different.  They didn't scare me.  Still... I wanted to thank you for protecting me on both occasions.  Thank you.  I don't know what else I can give you."

            Sion nodded slowly.  He felt his anger had drained.  A lot had changed during these past two nights and he was still trying to understand several of these changes.

            "I guess I also owe you an aplogy, huh?"  began Kou in his usual haughty manner.  "I _do_ have something to offer you, however.  The boss put me in charge of hireing new help over at FATE, and I think I just found a resonable bouncer – nah, a good one even!"

            Sion was still digesting all that had happened.  He wasn't sure he liked Kou much, either.  Then again, he couldn't quite bring himself to dislike him.

            "What makes you think I'll accept, after all that happened today?"

            "Well, let's face it.  Being a gym instructor just isn't your thing.  And more importantly, you wanna stay close to Dominique."

            Sion's eyes shot up to Kou in disbelief.  That was...  Actually, he wasn't sure what that was, nor could he find any snappy comeback to it.

            Dominique had looked away, pretending not to listen.  Silence again.

            "...I'll think about it."

            The rain had lessened.

            "Hey," began Dominique "maybe we should head back to FATE.  You two should get your bruises taken care of."

            The two consented, and painfully got up and began making their way back to the bar.

            "Aren't you forgetting anything, Kou...?"  muttered Sion as they walked.

            "Nope."

            "I thought you were going to arrest me."

            "Arrest you?  I couldn't if I wanted to."

            "But I thought—"

            "Nope, as of today, I'm quitting the force.  Too much burocracy, corruption, you know the drill.  Plus, I need to train a new bouncer, don't I?"

            Sion smirked.  No, he really couldn't bring himself to dislike him.  Kou, however, wasn't half as cheerful as he appeared to be.  He was worried for Dominique.  Sion would join the bouncers for her, no doubt.  The boy was as readable as a book.  Still, he was unsettled.  Someone was definitely after Dominique, that much was certain.  He couldn't afford to keep two different jobs if he was to watch over her, and that was his priority right now – as much as it was Sion's.  He knew the boy would be thinking along the same lines.  But no matter, whatever may come, they'd now be ready for it.                  


End file.
